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A bi-weekly audio series and podcast service, hosted by Committee on Conscience Project Director Bridget Conley-Zilkic, that brings you the voices of human rights defenders, experts, advocates, and government officials. Vital voices addressing one of humanity's most vital issues. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not necessarily represent those of the Museum.
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12/07/06
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Joseph Kabila was inaugurated Wednesday as the Democratic Republic of Congo's first elected president in over 40 years. He promised to promote "the trilogy of good governance, democracy and respect for human rights." The losing candidate in the presidential run-off, Jean-Pierre Bemba, did not attend the ceremony. Bemba has said he will accept the election results and serve as leader of the opposition. Meanwhile, despite the hopeful signs in the capital, Kinshasa (which is in the far west of the country), violence in the east drove 12,000 people to cross the border into neighboring Uganda. Kabila's strongest electoral support was in the east, where the population hopes he can establish security and stability for an area where millions have perished in the past 8 years.
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12/04/06
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 A few weeks ago, I suggested that Congolese citizens and internationals were "waiting to breathe" as they watched to see whether the presidential run-off, won by President Joseph Kabila (pictured), would result in fresh violence. Seasoned BBC correspondent Mark Doyle is reporting that "for now, the [UN and European Union] peacekeepers, and most ordinary Congolese, are breathing a huge sigh of relief." Money quote: "It would be a miracle," I reported several times for the BBC on visits to DR Congo during the first and second rounds of voting, "if these polls are pulled off successfully". Well, that miracle appears to have taken place. Though losing candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba believes that Kabila's victory was not totally on the up and up, he has accepted the result and pledged to lead the opposition, presumably within the constitutional framework.
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11/15/06
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 While Lubango is chilling in the Hague, things are tense back in DR Congo, where President Joseph Kabila appears to have won the runoff election. Supporters of his opponent, Jean-Pierre Bemba, are claiming fraud. International observers have said the election was largely free and fair. There was fighting on Saturday between forces loyal to the two candidates. The capital Kinshasa is apparently quiet now as the UN force in Congo (MONUC) and a supplement of European Union troops have deployed on the streets. Ambassador William Swing, the American who is the Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is sounding a hopeful note:The big hope is that people want the elections, they want peace, they want to get on with their lives in circumstances that promise a better future. . . . The vast majority of people are tired of war, tired of violence, they want peace and they are not easily going to be involved in acts that will disrupt order. . . . I honestly believe that after these elections, one can truly say that this country is another country. The unfortunate fact is that a small minority willing to use violence can thwart the will of a vast majority who want peace. But maybe . . .
(Photo of Kabila supporters © Tiggy Ridley/IRIN)
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11/15/06
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 Earlier this week I raised some questions about the proceedings in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, such as why he was only charged with recruiting child soldiers and why he is so far the only individual charged by the ICC despite the enormity of the situation in DR Congo. In an interview with the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), ICC Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda addressed these and other questions. On the limited charges brought so far: This crime of enlisting and conscripting children in my opinion is very important and for a long time it has not received the recognition that it deserves. This is the first time that the ICC is bringing charges based solely on this particular type of crime. And we hope that by doing so we will build international consensus to emphasize that it should not go unpunished. . . .
In addition to that, at the time that we sought the arrest of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo from the DRC, the office of the prosecutor had sufficient evidence only to prove this particular charge. And because Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was under arrest and his release was imminent, we had to act with urgency; that is why we brought this charge alone. However, this does not mean that even after this initial case, we will not bring other charges for other crimes against Lubanga. (Photo of Thomas Lubanga © IRIN)
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11/09/06
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 The Hague-based International Criminal Court is moving forward on its first case: charges involving the use of child soldiers against a Congolese warlord named Thomas Lubanga. Lubanga is the first -- and so far only -- defendant in custody at the ICC. His case raises a couple of issues. First, he is charged with using child soldiers; but most believe he is guilty of so much more than that. Second, however bad he may be, he is only one player in an enormous catastrophe involving many, many crimes of international concern. Will he be charged with more crimes? Will there be other indictments and trials? And, if so, when? I discussed some of these issues recently with Human Rights Watch's Anneke van Woudenberg.
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10/26/06
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